Resources
The sources we build on, linked openly.
We invent no skill taxonomy of our own and no legal framework of our own. Both already exist, public and better maintained.
Every reference points to the primary source. We do not mirror content and we do not present other people's text as our own.
Three groups
This page collects the material we actually use.
Classification and skill frameworks
4 sources
Law and codetermination
7 sources
Figures and studies
4 sources
There is no material of our own here yet. What follows comes out of the work with the first partner companies.
Classification and skill frameworks
Without a shared framework, every skills discussion stays a discussion about words. These four sources provide the framework the QualiShift data model follows.
- ESCO, the European classification of occupations and skills
Useful as a common language for skills across language borders, because the same skill carries the same identifier in 28 languages. QualiShift follows ESCO, the open classification standard of the European Commission.
- O*NET, occupational database of the US Department of Labor
Useful when an activity needs a finer description than European occupational profiles give, for instance by tasks, tools and technologies. Published under CC BY 4.0 and usable commercially with attribution.
- German Qualifications Framework
Useful for making competence levels comparable instead of describing them with adjectives. Eight levels, split into professional competence and personal competence.
- Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
Useful as the place to check what counts as a recognised apprenticeship occupation and what does not. The register lists 324 occupations, and the four standard training elements digitalisation, sustainability, law and safety apply to all of them.
Law and codetermination
The provisions below decide when the works council has to be involved and in what form. Anyone planning a wave of qualification touches several of them at once. The full texts are free to read at the German Federal Ministry of Justice.
- Section 92 BetrVG, workforce planning
Useful for understanding why the works council must be informed on the basis of documents, and why “in good time” means before the decision.
- Section 96 BetrVG, promoting vocational training
Useful for the case where the works council requires the training need to be identified. Subsection 1 turns that into an employer duty.
- Section 97 BetrVG, training facilities and measures
The central provision for transformation initiatives. Subsection 2 creates a genuine codetermination right as soon as work changes and existing knowledge is no longer sufficient.
- Section 98 BetrVG, carrying out workplace training
Useful for the question of how far codetermination reaches into content, and for the works council's right to propose participants.
- Section 94 BetrVG, questionnaires and assessment criteria
Useful for settling early whether a skill profile held per employee requires works council consent. On our reading that is very probably the case.
- Section 87 (1) no. 6 BetrVG, technical devices
Useful because settled case law holds that an objective capability to monitor behaviour or performance is already enough. Intent does not matter.
- Section 82a SGB III, qualification allowance
Useful as evidence that the legislator recognises qualification needs driven by structural change, including the threshold of 20 percent of the workforce. QualiShift gives no advice on public funding.
Figures and studies
These four sources carry every figure on this website. Which figure comes from which edition is set out, with its period, on the sources page.
- World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report
Useful for the share of core skills that changes and for how the training need is distributed across 100 workers. Watch the edition: the value has been falling since 2020.
- Federal Statistical Office
Useful for actual employment in vehicle manufacturing and among manufacturers of parts and accessories, meaning measured rather than projected developments.
- German Economic Institute
Useful for what companies actually spend on training, and for the skilled labour gap published by its Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Labour.
- Fraunhofer IAO, ELAB2040 study
Useful for the employment effect of the powertrain transition in European production. When citing it, keep three things straight: Europe, powertrain only, jobs at risk within a scenario.
Our own material will follow
We do not publish any material of our own here yet. There is no blog, no whitepaper and no study from us.
What will follow comes out of the work with the first partner companies: how a role cluster is cut cleanly, a skeleton for the document required under Section 92 BetrVG, and a note on works agreements for a skills system. As soon as it holds up, it will appear here.
Pointers welcome
A source missing here?
If you work with a standard or a survey we have overlooked, write to us. We add it to this page if it holds.